ZyLAB Audio Search
May 11, 2011
It’s like semantic search for audio files: Allvoipnews announces “ZyLAB Launches Audil Search Bundle.” The eDiscovery company’s product allows you to search your enterprise’s audio using speech analytics:
Company officials said that the desktop software product transforms audio recordings into a phonetic representation of the way in which words are pronounced. The investigators are able to search for dictionary terms, however also proper names, company names, or brands without the need to ‘re-ingest’ the data.
Kudos to ZyLAB. With this project, the company is pushing ahead of Microsoft Fast and Google. That’s no small feat. However, Exalead has offered audio and video search for several years.
Cynthia Murrell May 11, 2011
Find Images with GazoPa
May 11, 2011
I recently was introduced to GazoPa, an interesting new Web site and venture project from Hitachi, the inspire the next company. (I think I know what that means.) GazoPa is self-described as:
a next generation similar image search engine that uses image features such as a color and a shape that are extracted from an image.
The photo bank is populated by the continuously crawling GazoPabot and at its completion will provide categories like sports, funny, and Flickr.
The site is uncluttered, so it wasn’t difficult to start poking around the features. It allows you to upload an image, enter an image URL or a keyword to find a similar image. Pretty simple. It even provides the tools to draw an image, paintbrush style, and use that as the baseline for a picture hunt.
My preliminary queries reaped entertaining results, which seems to be part of the sites M.O. considering the inclusion of its playful “shuffle” feature. I tested a sample image provided, scribbled my own and pitched up a keyword. Some of the returned images were pretty close, others I have no idea how they were tossed into the mix. Upon further investigation, the site’s FAQ details that their algorithm is improving with time and they are in the beta phase. So the quirkiness is to be expected, at least for a while.
Will this change the internet as we know it? Doubtfully, but it is cool way to leverage information in another format, and by someone other than Google and Microsoft.
Sarah Rogers, May 11, 2011
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Yahoo Acting Fast. Another Broadcast.com?
May 11, 2011
Yahoo is at it again. Reminiscent of its 1999 $5-billion purchase of Broadcast.com, the Web site is acquiring IntoNow for reportedly $13 million. This deal is different. Yahoo is spending less. On the other hand, IntoNow is a newly hatched operation.
According to Forbes’ “Yahoo Acquires IntoNow For TV Check-ins,” IntoNow’s mobile software “makes it easier for people to let their friends know what TV shows they’re watching.” BusinessWeek’s “Yahoo acquisition adds way to share TV show info,” points out that the IntoNow technology also “lets viewers identify their favorite TV commercials, a feature that might open up ways for Yahoo to sell more ads in its online videos.”
While Yahoo is looking to combine rich media with the power of social media, the company doesn’t have a great track record with video acquisitions. Financial analyst Michael Onghai warns that while “Yahoo had a great instinct for the value of video, the problem was timing in 1999 and the problem in 2011 may be timing. Yahoo has to demonstrate that it can buy a property and generate significant revenue.” Mr. Onghai is active in a promising operation, www.thinkweb3.com.
Yahoo seems to be moving in interesting ways. Search does not seem to be a priority. Hopefully these will pay off for Yahoo’s stakeholders.
Rita Safranek, May 11, 2011
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Protected: SharePoint and Silverlight Collaborate on Rich Media
May 11, 2011
Google Images: What Is in Focus? Images or Security? Neither? Both?
May 10, 2011
This weekend (May 7 and 8, 2011), I wanted a US government picture of earth taken from space. I checked out Bing.com but did not spot the image I had in mind. I bopped over to Google.com, clicked on Images, and checked out some snaps. One caught my eye and I clicked it. The Google iFrame thing popped up. I clicked the image, saved a copy to a USB, hit the button on my KVM control, and worked some Photoshop / Gimp distortions. When I clicked back to the machine I use to look at Web sites, malware had taken over the machine. A bit of sleuthing revealed that some clever teenagers at heart had used Google’s iFrame as a vector to corrupt a computer. Nice. This particular exploit left my machine without the ability to do much of anything. If you get snookered by image malware on a Windows machine, you will have to use some crafty techniques such as running Task Manager, clicking on Run when you hold down the Control key, and working with this Swiss cheese operating system. So I got to revert back to my old command line self. Semi fun.
You can find out about the Google images malware thing in “Attackers Using Google Image Search to Distribute Malware.” I noted that in Google’s “Sort by Subject in Google Images,” there was some cheerleading for a function I don’t need. Er, a keyword search is a subject to me. Google is excited about this function. The write up pants:
Sorting by subject uses algorithms that identify relationships among images found on the web and presents those images in visual groups, expanding on the technology developed for Google Similar Images and Google Image Swirl. By looking at multiple sources of similarities, such as pixel values and semantic relationships, and by mining massive amounts of data, we can make meaningful connections and groupings among images.
In my opinion, we have a Microsoft Office type of disconnect. I want to do something and I don’t want software to do something else. Whether I am pasting text or formatting a table, Microsoft’s engineers are so darned smart that the software does what it thinks I should do. The software does not do what I want to do. Google Images is moving along this knife edge. I wanted a picture and I got an exploit.
How about getting the basics right? Skip the fancy talk about semantics and find a way to deliver the basics—one click access to an image without the accompaniment of some high IQ teenagers who want me to practice my command line skills. (For more on Google security check out “Chrome’s Security Crown Slips”. Wow. Pretty exciting. What happens to folks who, unlike me, don’t know how to work around an exploit, losing access to their computer and maybe data. No more Google Images for me.
Stephen E Arnold, May 10, 2011
Freebie just like Google images’ malware
Google in TV Marketing and PR Storm
May 6, 2011
Two items caught my attention today (May 4, 2011). First, I noticed the New York Times’s story “Google Takes to TV to Promote Browser.” The link may go dead or cost money so you will have to track down a hard copy or turn a cartwheel.) The point of the story is that the Google TV in its various incarnations did not light a fire here in Harrod’s Creek nor elsewhere. How does Google fix this? The New York Times astutely points out that marketing is needed. Okay, but I was thinking a product that solved a problem would be useful too. The write up is a long one and it dances around the big story for me: Google has to figure out how to market a consumer product. Microsoft takes three shots before sinking a short jumper. How many for Google? More than one for certain.
The second item is the big marketing and PR push for Chrome. Is Chrome an operating system? Is Chrome a browser? Is Chrome both? I still wonder how Chrome complements or competes with Android. The article I read was “Chrome Ads Are Google’s Biggest Offline Campaign Ever.” With Google’s formidable online advertising system, why does Google rely on old-fashioned, “offline” ads? If Google’s online marketing system won’t work for Google, will that alert those who think like me that Adwords is not enough? I can only speak for myself. The answer is, “Yes, Google’s use of offline advertising calls into question the efficacy of its own online system.”
Google’s offline method is working. In fact, here’s a somewhat interesting factoid from the Huffington Post write up:
Last month, Google’s chief financial officer Patrick Pichette told analysts, “On a tactical basis, everybody that uses Chrome is a guaranteed locked-in user for us in terms of having access to Google.” As with many of its videos, Google said that the ad tells a true story, though it changed the real names and used actors. The spots lack the playful aesthetic of earlier Chrome campaigns, but they’re clearly going for a wider audience. Today’s ad, It Gets Better, has already racked up over 170,000 views and mixes YouTube videos, Blogger and news videos. It tells the story of the It Gets Better project for LGBT teens facing harassment through Google Chrome.
Using both online and offline media to sell a message makes sense. But—and this is a lingering but—why does Google TV and Google Chrome warrant such massive reworking, remessaging, and remarketing? My hunch is that Google may be reacting to signals predicting a slow uptake. Which is easier? Develop a product that people want or must have or leave the product pretty much undifferentiated and throw money into the marketing and PR department’s cubicles.
Apple does the “need and want” thing. Google seems to be doing what US auto makers did in the 1970s: good old fashioned marketing and PR. What happened to good old innovation in search?
The Google is ageing, maybe maturing. Let marketing shoulder the bags of rice.
Stephen E Arnold, May 6, 2011
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Enterprise Search Reaches Out to Video
April 22, 2011
Probably many of us are familiar with video in the workplace, but with limited applications like training. The next step is finding more ways to make video work for us, as stated in “Searching for Value: Overcoming the Challenges of Video in the Enterprise”.
The referenced article focuses on the obstacles associated with implementing video as a vehicle for knowledge sharing. Namely, the amount of bandwidth required to process videos can become a nightmare for ill-prepared companies and in turn disrupt other services. Even more importantly:
“A few reasons why video poses challenges go beyond bandwidth, but confront issues associated with ownership, archival and business value. Companies serious about video need to consider a few necessary additions to their search infrastructure…”
The author recommends these additions include enterprise search technology, digital asset management and hosted video solutions.
There are a number of outfits who have already been successfully solving these problems. Exalead’s Voxalead and Autonomy’s Virage systems can both process video, making it searchable and providing an expansive toolset to the user. Even Cisco recently announced including video search capabilities in its TelePresence package. So no need to reinvent the wheel on this one; jumping on the latest corporate trend can be easier than ever before. Or should I say more robust?
Sarah Rogers, April 22, 2011
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Taking Pictures for Maps: Google and Microsoft Go Different Directions
April 21, 2011
We noticed that Microsoft is firing up a service that will take pictures of businesses. If this reminded you of Street View, the Google service, you are not alone. If you want more information on Microsoft’s emulation of this popular and controversial Google service, check out “Microsoft Taking Street Photos in the UK”, which provides the basics plus a link to Microsoft’s explanation of the service.
Source: The BBC.
“Google Has Stopped Street View Photography in Germany” reported that even though a German court ruled that Google may continue its street- level photography, the company has stopped with little explanation. The article asserted:
It’s easy to assume that the service’s difficult birth has factored into the decision. German officials raised objections almost as soon as Google announced plans to launch Street View there. After lengthy negotiations, Google eventually agreed to let German residents opt-out of having their buildings appear online, and nearly 250,000 German households and businesses took Google up on that offer. I’m not a programmer, but I can’t help wonder if the presence of so many blurred buildings — and the potential challenge of updating Street View while maintaining their privacy — is a factor in Google’s decision.
Google may also suspect, as we do, that Germany will begin behaving more like China and less like a puppy rolling over. Microsoft, though an old dog, may be learning some new tricks.
Cynthia Murrell April 21, 2011
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Thought Equity and Sony Metadata
April 21, 2011
The Yahoo Finance article “Thought Equity Motion Powers Enterprise-Wide Metadata Management for Sony Pictures Entertainment” brings to light the collaboration between Sony Pictures Entertainment and Thought Equity Motion. According to the article”
The video platform and footage licensing company will help Sony Pictures get more out of their large entertainment library by utilizing the T3 Metadata Editor to help them better manage content and more importantly offer consumers better and more powerful options. Sony Pictures Entertainment states “The massive amount of visual data we work with in movies and TV shows must be textually searchable and mapped to a huge amount of other information — such as clearances, rights and restrictions, and music cue sheets. The more easily we can store and access that information, the smarter we can be in using it.”
By using the T3 Metadata tool Sony can do more localized searches such as by actor, dialogue and even location allowing them to do so much more with the information they have available. Yet another company has discovered the power of information.
We find it interesting that metadata is suddenly the “new kid on the block” for Sony. We have found real findability challenges on its Web site. The Sony eBook reader is also equipped with a search system that gave us a headache. We hope Sony does metadata thoroughly. Forget the new products Sony can produce, think of the hapless user trying to locate an item.
April Holmes, April 21, 2011
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A Swiftian Moment: Google Becomes the Music Biz
April 16, 2011
My broken leg and ankle notwithstanding, I want to take a moment to call to your attention a Swiftian idea: Google opens its checkbook and buys the entire music industry. Good stuff. The idea is that Google or its executives have enough money to buy the entire music industry. Yep, Arrowsmith to Nikolaj Znaider.
First, whip out your dog eared copy of Cliffs Notes for Gulliver’s Travels or click here for the free version. Second, scan it to get the drift of the satire. You will recall the Queen’s dwarfs, the former top dog of Lagado, and, of course, the Yahoos and Houyhnhnms. Third, point your browser at “Why Google Should Buy the Music Industry.” Once in the Googleplex, Google can be a player on iPods, Android devices, and elevators worldwide.
Once that Google check is cashed presto chango!
Google has power to push which could launch music consumer services on Android users and contracts with darned interesting terms on the likes of Amazon, Apple, and (why not?) Microsoft, the motion picture industry, and the pesky cable and TV industry. Each of these is annoying because Google’s objectives are either slowed, blunted, or derailed by these entities and groups.
If I were taking one of those required classes in the English Department, I suppose an essay comparing Jonathan Swift and the author of Open Source, Open Genomics, Open content’s article. However, this is the rough and tumble world of poobahism, punditry, and pontification. The idea is a good one because it would have flashed through the minds of such outstanding executives as Cornelius Vanderbilt and John Pierpont Morgan.
Nothing negotiates like power and money, or is it money and power?
My view is today’s financial climate might entertain this idea. The problem is that some would object to pragmatic capitalism applied in this manner. The method works quite well in such US sectors as telecommunications, railroads, and politics, music hits a particular chord. The “hooks” are set deep.
Alas, another solution to Google’s music woes may have to be found. Either a solution emerges or Google will face another China maneuver. At this time, China is a big, juicy, complex market. Google appears to be playing a minor role. Is music the next Middle Kingdom for Google? Makes no difference to me. I am hard of hearing. But noise I usually detect.
Stephen E Arnold, April 16, 2011
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